Mood Music
by TaylorRose16
Summary: :AU: Two hundred years after his resurrection, Jack Frost still has trouble controlling his wintry powers. The four Guardians of Childhood have had it with the winter spirit, and decide to lock him away. When he escapes a hundred years later and simply asks for help controlling himself, Pitch Black shows interest and tries convincing him that only one path is available to him.
1. Nuisance

**Hey guys! It's finally here! First of all, I apologize for how long it took me to get the first chapter of this new story out, but some serious sh*t hit the fan for me and I needed to get through that before I could find any writing inspiration.**

**Second, yes, I stuck with the same title as the first story, simply because I couldn't think of anything better and it still fits with the plot of this story. I also incorporated the same location (Reine, Norway) into this chapter, cuz it was easier than finding some other place in the world. :P I also think Reine is pretty.**

**So anyway, thank you to everyone who read and reviewed the previous "Mood Music" story of mine, and I hope you all enjoy this new one! Thanks!**

_**Disclaimer: I do not own **_**Rise of the Guardians_ or any of its characters._**

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**1. Nuisance**

Huge, heavy boots stomped across the wooden floors, tapped impatiently in the makeshift elevator, and scared tiny elves into hiding underneath nearby work tables. The yetis knew not to get in their boss's way when his current expression showed on his face. His thick eyebrows furrowed in anger, his bright blue eyes tired and annoyed, his lips pursed in slight anxiety. Yes, today was definitely a day to make sure one stayed on the Nice List.

When North shoved open the large oak doors, his three fellow Guardians already sat near the end of the long conference table, waiting. Tooth's and Sandy's faces expressed worry and sorrow while Bunnymund's simply conveyed extreme aggravation. North shut the doors before walking down the length of the table and taking his seat at the head.

"Bunny, Tooth, Sandy," he said in greeting.

_A soft wind blew through the resort, bringing with it a whirlwind of soft white flurries, as the morning sun began peeking over the mountain tops. Kids dragged their parents out into the snow, laughing and cheering. The snowy slopes were already being dominated by skiers and snowboarders alike. It was a merry scene._

_ Unbeknownst to everyone, a scraggly, white-haired teenage boy crouched on the edge of a nearby cliff, observing the scene before him. A smile was on his lips as he watched the kids scream in delight, building snowmen and throwing snowballs. He knew he couldn't miss out on the fun, so he jumped into a gust of wind and let it carry him down to where the children played._

"Let's skip the formalities, North; we all know why we're here," Bunnymund said crossly. He leaned back in his tall chair, his arms across his chest, his wide green eyes staring straight into the top of the wooden table.

"It's just awful…" Tooth murmured, hugging her arms to her chest. Sandy, who sat next to her, patted her back silently.

"Yes… we will figure things out, this I know," North stated, interlacing his fingers on top of the table. "This will not go unpunished."

_Jack welcomed the feeling of the powdery snow between his bare toes as he landed among the children. He didn't allow himself to be surprised when none of them reacted to his presence. He had gotten used to being ignored and invisible to the world after two hundred years._

_ He saw an already existing snowball fight in progress, and so he ran over, whipped up some perfectly round balls of snow, and started hurling them into the laughing kids. He laughed along with them, running around and occasionally freezing a patch of ice and sending a kid face-first into a snow bank. They always popped back up laughing._

"I want him gone, North," Bunnymund ordered, turning his gaze upwards. "I don't care where he goes or what happens to him, I just want him gone."

"Understood, but-"

"'But' nothin'! We're the bloody Guardians of Childhood here, we should be able to get ridda' one insignificant spirit!" Bunnymund was on his feet at this point.

"He's not insignificant, Bunny," Tooth said.

"She is correct," North agreed. "Man in Moon created him for a reason."

"Yeah, right. Jack Frost is nothin' but a nuisance! Mistakes are made, and North, that whacker is definitely one of 'em!"

_"Nothing like a good ol' snowball to the face, huh?" Jack chortled as a young girl sat up in the snow after being pelted. She stared for a few seconds at the kid who had thrown the snowball, and then burst into tears. Jack stood and took a step back, not expecting this reaction at all. The girl got to her feet and ran towards the large cabin-like lodge where her mother scooped her up into a warm embrace. Jack cocked his head to the side. "Please, that wasn't even a very hard one," he said to himself. He looked up to the gray sky and noticed there was a severe lack of snow falling. "No wonder you're crying!" he exclaimed, and then jumped into the wind and soared up into the sky._

"I do agree that something needs to be done," North responded.

"He needs to be locked away," Bunnymund demanded gruffly, sitting back down in his chair. "For good." North considered this, and then turned to Tooth and Sandy.

"What are your thoughts?" he asked them. The two Guardians glanced at each other.

"I agree with Bunny," Tooth said softly but firmly. "The Man in the Moon may have created Jack Frost for a reason, but when something of this magnitude happens, I don't see any other choice." Sandy nodded and a flash of golden sand danced above his head. "Sandy is right. Mother Earth can take over the winter season again, just as she did before the birth of Jack Frost." North nodded while looking down at the table, contemplating things.

"He killed dozens of innocent people, North," Bunnymund reminded him, his voice a bit softer now. "We have no other choice."

_Snow began to fall almost instantly when Jack laced the clouds with the tip of his staff. He laughed with joy as he sailed across the sky, glancing downwards to see kids running around with their tongues sticking out of their mouths. The winter spirit copied them and caught a couple of his precious white flakes on his tongue, and for some reason it seemed to energize him._

_ Suddenly, he was twirling around in the sky as the wind began to pick up. He soared up towards the tops of the mountains, his arms spread wide to his sides like wings. He laughed and laughed while the snow began to thicken. He caught more snowflakes in his mouth and he just kept flying in circles around the mountain summits._

_ It happened so fast, and he wasn't prepared for it. He had thrown his arms wide, his staff clutched tightly in his hand, and a huge pulse radiated through the air. There was cracking and rumbling, and the next thing he knew a whole chunk of the snowy mountainside gave way and began racing towards the heavily inhabited lodge. The spirit's eyes grew wide as the screams reached his ears, and then he screamed himself._

"I know, I know. I'm trying to think of what we could do with him, or where we could send him."

"Strand him in the desert," Bunnymund suggested, smirking slightly at Sandy. "Take that staff of his and leave him to fend for himself in a terrain that's exactly his opposite."

An image of the North Pole followed by a cage appeared above the Sandman's head, and there was an almost immediate consensus that keeping the spirit locked up in Santa's Workshop would not be the wisest idea. Especially considering how unstable the boy was.

"We could freeze him and send him to the bottom of the ocean?" Tooth spoke up. Her fellow Guardians looked at her in surprise. "What? There are children whose teeth will never be collected again. We need to figure something out."

"I think you are onto something," North said before Bunnymund could say anything. "Not with dropping him into the ocean, but freezing him. Even Jack Frost could do no harm if locked away within his own element."

_He tried to stop it. He really did. But it was just too massive and completely out of his control. He tried protecting the lodge with walls of ice, but they did no good. The monstrous avalanche tore right through everything the spirit tried to conjure up. He didn't know what to do. He felt utterly helpless._

_ And within seconds, the entire lodge was buried, along with everyone in and around it._

"I know a place," North stated, drumming his meaty fingers against the table. "A very ancient place, down in Antarctica. It is known as the_ Palatium glácies_, or Ice Palace." Tooth gasped.

"That place hasn't been inhabited in centuries," she murmured. Sandy images of what appeared to be large moving boulders flashed above the Sandman's head.

"And it is guarded by ancient spirits," North translated. "It is perfect."

"How are we supposed to get the kid there?" Bunnymund asked, slipping one of his boomerangs out of its sheath. "I'm willin' to do anything."

"We could lure him there somehow, so that he doesn't know it's us behind it and so that he doesn't know it will be an ambush," Tooth said. "Perhaps with… a dream."

_It was a catastrophe. Roads leading to the lodge were gone, so no help could come to anyone who may have survived the initial avalanche. He couldn't hear them, but Jack was sure there were people screaming underneath the huge pile of snow._

_ He sat upon the same cliff he had earlier that morning, when he watched the kids play, completely careless and having no idea what was to come in such a short time. Things would never be the same for him… not now that all of those people were dead because of him. He knew he had trouble controlling his powers, but how had he possibly let something like this happen? Everything happened so quickly. Everything disappeared so quickly…_

_ After spending hours just sitting and staring and even crying, Jack Frost took to the air again and flew far away from those mountains. Nothing could be done. Not for those people… and not for the spirit of winter._

"Please elaborate," North said, leaning back and stroking his long silvery beard.

"Well, I'm sure Sandy has seen it, the way Jack plays with his golden sand whenever it descends around him. It's almost as if Jack has a soft spot for it. Maybe Sandy could put him to sleep, and then when he awakes some sand could take on the shape of something from Jack's dreams, and it could then lead Jack down to the Ice Palace. There's no doubt he would follow it." The Guardians debated it silently within their own heads, sharing a few glances here and there. Sandy immediately agreed with Tooth's plan, and after a minute so did Bunnymund and North.

"How are we supposed to find the mongrel?" Bunnymund asked, putting away his boomerang. "He could be anywhere."

"One of my tooth fairies said she saw him in the fishing village of Reine, Norway just a few hours ago." Sandy did a silent salute and slowly rose into the air, mounting the back of a giant conjured manta ray. North stopped him before he could go.

"Be careful, my friend," the old spirit warned. Sandy nodded down at him. North then turned to Bunnymund. "Bunny, use your tunnels to travel down to Ice Palace and tell guardians of plan. They must know before Jack arrives."

"Right," Bunnymund responded, getting back to his feet.

"Today, we rid the world of the nuisance that is Jack Frost," North announced. His fellow Guardians nodded their heads in approval. Then, Bunnymund tapped the ground twice with his foot, opening up a small hole, and jumped down into the tunnel as Sandy soared out the wide open window. Tooth and North shared a brief embrace before the Tooth Fairy fluttered out the window as well, making her way back to her home.

The Sandman flew over the icy North Pole tundra, the wide oceans, and the many forests until he came upon a small village on the island of Moskenesøya, Norway. Small flurries of snow drifted down from the sky, and this gave the golden man the tip that Jack Frost was still nearby. He tried staying as discreet as possible, floating around the snowy mountains that surrounded the village, until he saw the boy sitting with his knees hugged to his chest on the edge of a cliff. Sandy hovered over to him without revealing his presence, and slowly began weaving thin strands of sand through the air around the teenager.

Jack didn't notice the sand, but also didn't fight the oncoming pressure of slumber as his eyelids began flickering and drooping. He slowly lay down in the snow bank atop the cliff overlooking Reine and hugged his staff to his chest. Eventually, his eyes shut, and he drifted off into sleep with the Sandman watching over him.

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_**Australian slang terms:**_

_**Mongrel - despicable person**_

_**Whacker - someone with whom you have little patience**_

**So there's chapter one! I hope y'all enjoyed it! I promise you, chapter two is going to be awesome. This whole story is based on a dream I had a little over a month ago, and chapter two (plus the beginning of chapter three) is going to be what happened in my dream and what inspired the whole story! It's gonna be epic, guys, I guarantee it!**

**Please review! Reviews let me know whether or not the story is well received and worth continuing, so please let me know what you think! They give me inspiration to keep writing! :) Thanks, guys!**

**~ Tay**


	2. Sleep

**Thanks for the awesome feedback on the first chapter, guys! :D I'm so glad to see that this story is being well-received already!**

**First off, I uploaded a cover image for the story with permission from the artist on dA, whose name is Rosdottir! Thanks so much for letting me use it, I think it's perfect for the story!**

**So here it is! The very dream I had that inspired this entire story. Well, of course it's not exactly like my dream. I'm not going to be able to describe the dream perfectly, but I did my best! It was hard, let me tell you. I'm pretty proud of how this chapter came out, so I hope y'all enjoy it!**

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**2. Sleep**

It was a pleasant dream, really, filled with laughing children and snowball fights. But what brought a smile to the spirit's lips even in slumber was that the children believed in him. He was no longer invisible. When he approached a child, he could actually hoist them onto his back for a piggy-back ride. He could help them back to their feet after being knocked into the snow. The kids themselves could run forward and tackle him, all while sharing a good hearty laugh together. It was all Jack wanted and more.

When he woke, there was a soft ache in his heart after realizing it all had been within his unconscious mind. He had serious doubts that he would ever achieve a real believer, especially after his major blunder with the recent avalanche. And even if he did somehow obtain a believer or two, they'd only be afraid of him. The spirit of winter, who couldn't even control his own powers and caused deaths as a result. What kind of kid would want to hang around with him?

Jack jumped when something touched his shoulder from behind. He whipped out his staff and twirled around, but hesitated when he saw a little golden girl standing before him. She looked up at him, her long straight hair not affected by the current breeze. Something in her eyes made Jack lower his staff, and once he did the girl approached him. She grabbed his hand and, at their touch, some of the golden sand that formed the child rubbed away into the air. Jack didn't even notice, as he was too perplexed by the child herself. She smiled up at him, and then slowly began rising into the air. When she was too high for him, her hand slipped from his grip. She giggled, which came out as a soft ringing noise, and then began flying away from Jack, out over the body of water that Reine surrounded. Jack reached out towards her.

"Hey, wait!" he called. Immediately, he jumped off the edge of the cliff, being picked up by a gust of wind and carried out over the water after the golden girl. She giggled again, but only continued flying away from him. Jack sped up, trying to catch her but never being able to. She always stayed ahead of him, sometimes twirling in circles through the air, diving down towards the ground and then back up towards the sky. Jack had no idea why he was following this girl, but something inside of him told him that he had to catch up to her. Something about her seemed so familiar to him.

He didn't even notice where they were or how far they had travelled until they soared over land made up entirely of ice and snow. Once he took a moment to observe his surroundings, he immediately knew where they were. He had been to Antarctica several times throughout his spiritual life. It was cold and icey and isolated. He could do no harm to any civilization down there, even with his semi-lack of control over his powers. He hadn't a clue why this girl led him here, but he still continued to follow her, until the ocean was far behind them and only flat ice stretched towards the horizon on all sides.

Well, almost all sides. After flying over flatness for several minutes, Jack caught sight of something jutting into the air in the distance. It wasn't incredibly high or big, just very wide. There were no other structures around it, just a sole wall of ice standing out against the vast flat tundra.

The girl stopped just short of the wall and waited for Jack to catch up. He slowed and then dropped to the snowy ground, looking up at the ominous structure. He was right about it being some sort of wall, but a little ways to his right the ice jutted further into the air in just one spot, and there was an opening there as well. The little golden girl giggled again as she hovered over to the opening, and then Jack lost sight of her as she flew through the hole.

"Come back!" Jack yelled, flying forward just a foot above the ground. "Where are… we…?"

Jack's eyes were wide as his feet once again touched down against the ground. He stood just inside the opening, and just on the edge of what seemed to be some sort of huge gladiator arena. The wall of ice stood in a ring at the ground level, with two openings on opposite sides of each other, and surrounded an oval-shaped Colosseum that was carved right into the ice. It stretched down perhaps 1,000 feet, and had nothing resting upon the center ground, which had large cracks running along it, some stretching from one side of the oval to the other. Hallways, seating areas, huge arches and more were carved into the walls. On one of the more rounded ends, the entire wall was taken up by a mostly hollowed out area with a tall stage that was carved into the ice at the bottom. There were a few yards of ice at the top, providing a ceiling and making it so that the sun didn't shine down onto the stage. Large icey pillars stretched from the stage up to the ceiling, and huge icicles dripped down above the stage as well. In the center of the stage sat two thrones, one taller than the other, positioned to be looking out across the entire ring. On either side of the stage was one large icey boulder, and there were two more down on the opposite end of the ring sitting upon the center ground. The whole ring was open-air, so the sun filled up the hole, sending darkness into the surrounding hallways and draping the entire stage in shadow.

The spirit of winter couldn't stop staring. He felt his mouth hanging open but didn't attempt to close it. How had he never come across this place before? And what was it supposed to be?

The golden girl's giggle was what finally snapped Jack back into reality. She was down hovering just a few yards above the center ground, looking up at Jack almost expectantly. After a moment, Jack stepped off the edge of the cliff and slowly flew down to where the girl waited. She didn't move this time, and Jack took the opportunity to take her hand in his own again before carefully landing on the ground.

"What is this place?" he almost whispered to her. The girl simply stared at him for a short moment, and then with one last giggle, she transformed into swirling golden sand that slipped free from his grasp and shot up into the sky, disappearing. "Wait!" Jack shouted, reaching upwards. He raced into the air after it but quickly became aware that he was alone once again, but this time in a completely unfamiliar place. He glanced back down at the structure, and decided to do a little investigating.

He discovered that it was much more than just a hole in the ground. The hallways stretched outwards, further into the ice, leading to small rooms and large rooms and staircases and sometimes nowhere in particular. He found beds and tables and chandeliers, all completely carved out of the same ice that made up the entire structure. There were no lit candles so he used the blue glow from his staff as a light, but after a little while he began feeling claustrophobic and had to find his way back out into the open air. He noticed a wide pathway that started at one of the openings in the ice wall at the top and then circled all the way around the entire structure until it met with the center ground, but it never covered any of the open arches that provided viewing into the main ring or the open stage area. The architecture of the whole thing was astounding, and Jack still had no idea what it was or why the golden girl had taken him there.

Jack jumped down to the stage and approached the two thrones. He ran his hand along the ice, tested the taller one to make sure it was sturdy, and then sat down in the seat. He looked out across the ring, observing it all from yet another point of view. When he looked at the opposite end of the ring from him, he thought he saw one of the large boulders move, but dismissed it as his eyes playing a trick on him.

After a few moments he decided to walk out to one of the cracks that ran across the center ground and found that they were a lot wider when observed up close than from up on ground level. The one he stood at must have been three times his size from one side to the other, and he didn't even think it was the biggest crack there was. He looked down into the crevice and saw nothing special. No hallways or stairs or any other carvings, which meant these cracks were not supposed to be there. Perhaps whatever caused them also caused whoever used to inhabit the place to abandon it. It also wasn't a very deep crevice, because Jack could easily see the bottom past the random pieces of ice that jutted out from the walls.

When he felt the first rumble, he ignored it since it was so soft. But after another, stronger one rocked the ground, he looked up from the crack. Nothing seemed to be amiss, but then another rumble shook the ground from behind him, sending him down onto his knees. He caught his breath, got shakily back to his feet, and then turned around to face the stage again.

Immediately his head turned upwards and his eyes widened. Before him stood two monstrous creatures formed from rock and ice alike. They were similar, but they were different. They had legs, arms, a body, and a head, but they were different sizes and different parts were made up of ice and rock. Tall spikes of ice reached upwards from their upper backs, shoulders, and heads, and they each had two large glowing red eyes. Neither stood taller than the structure they stood in, but the taller of the two must have been at least four hundred feet. They had what resembled hands and feet, which when set upon the ground sent giant tremors rocketing through the ice.

Jack couldn't move from his spot as he stared up at the two creatures. Where had they come from? How had he not noticed them before? But with one look at the stage, Jack noticed that the two seemingly harmless boulders at either corner were gone. He gasped, whipping his head around to look down at the other end, and saw the other two boulders just beginning to rise and reveal their true forms. So it hadn't been a trick of his eyes earlier when he saw one of them stir.

"Jack Frost," one of the monsters spoke. Its voice was thundering loud and echoed around the ring. Jack turned back to the two that stood in front of him, his eyes still wide and his teeth clenched. He was gripping his staff so tightly that his fingers were digging into his palm.

"We are the guardians of this place," said the other.

"We know the trouble you have caused," a third said from the other end of the ring.

"And we cannot permit it to happen again," the fourth stated.

Jack jumped over the wide crack he stood before, trying to get away from the two who stood right in front of him, but when one took a step forward, its foot covered the entire crevice and then some as if it was just a tiny crack in the ground. Jack turned his head back and forth, trying to keep tabs on the two in front of him and the two on the other side of the ring, who were now beginning to make their way towards him as well.

"I… I didn't mean t-to…" he stuttered, turning to the side and beginning to back towards one of the walls, keeping all four monsters in his sight.

"We have received instructions, Jack Frost," one of the closer two told him.

"You must be locked away," said another. Jack gasped again.

"Wh… what?" he whispered. His back ran into the wall abruptly. "N-no… I can't… you can't do that!"

"We must."

"There is no other choice, Jack Frost."

"I won't let you!" Jack screamed, suddenly fueled by both anger and fear. How dare these creatures threaten to lock him away! He was Jack Frost, the spirit of winter! And what were these things? Stupid boulders, that's all! They had no authority over him. Yes, he had messed up and caused that devastating avalanche, but he was only two hundred years old and didn't entirely understand his powers or even his purpose yet. There was no reason to lock him away!

He was caught completely off guard when one of the closer monsters threw its hand out at him. He jumped into a gust of wind that pushed him out of the way, and the hand busted right into the wall. Even in the air, Jack could tell how strong the impact had been. The second creature swiped at him in the air, but Jack swerved out of the way and soared down between the monster's legs. Coming out behind the thing, he turned upwards and bee lined for the sky, wanting to get out of the ring and away from the monsters. However, the first one grabbed his legs and threw him harshly against the ground. His vision went blurry for a moment, but he shook his head and got out of the way before another of the four creatures could grab him again.

This was madness. He had to get out of there, and fast. These things and whoever had given them their "instructions" obviously meant business, and if Jack couldn't make it out of that ring, he didn't know how long he'd be locked away for.

Another rocky hand came towards him and he somersaulted out of its way only to be knocked into the wall by a different giant hand. He got his bearings back and raced out of the way before yet another hand could grab him, and that's when he rocketed back upwards again. This time, after swerving and circling and dodging, he made it out of the monsters' reach. He grinned as he continued flying upwards, until one of the creatures opened its mouth and shot out an icey spray right at him. Jack yelled, lost his concentration on the wind, and fell out of the ice spray's path. He called upon another gust of wind but was whacked out of the air by a large stone hand. He crashed into the ground again and just got out of the way before another shot of ice could freeze him to the spot. He jumped into the air, staying relatively close to the ground as he soared around the ring, and narrowed his eyes.

"So that's how they want to play, huh? Well fine. I can play that way too." He dipped downwards slightly before turning back up towards the sky. When he came close enough to one of the monsters, and dodged another smack, he shot his own ice spray from the tip of his staff straight at the thing. He kept at it, circling around the entire creature multiple times until he finally pulled away. The monster was entirely encased in ice except for its head and one of its hands. Jack laughed, but was then grabbed in an iron grip and turned to face two blaring red eyes.

"Jack Frost," the monster thundered. "You must stop. We have-"

"No!" Jack shouted. He blew a mighty spray of ice right from his own mouth and into the creature's face, causing it to let him go and stumble backwards. Jack again raced for the surface, swerving out of the way of ice and stone hands alike. The creatures refused to let him get out of their reach, so instead Jack ended up flying into the hollowed out stage area. He landed on the stage and hid behind the taller of the two thrones. He knew it wasn't going to fool those monsters, but he couldn't think of anything else. He was out of breath and his whole body ached from being banged around and thrown into things so much. How was he going to get out of there?

There was a huge crash and the whole area shook. Jack immediately noticed the monsters' plan when the icicles began falling from the ceiling. He yelped and used his staff to blow some apart, but others he just barely managed to dodge before they impaled him. He also had the ice spray coming from one of the monster's mouths to contend with, but somehow he made it out of the stage area with only a small slice in his right arm. He shot some more of his own ice at one of the monsters again, freezing its feet to the center ground, and then looked over to see the first monster he had frozen being unfrozen by the monster whose head had previously been encased in ice. So they can both freeze and unfreeze, perfect.

Jack was too preoccupied with seeing the one monster help the other that he didn't notice the huge hand that swung through the air. The breath was knocked from his lungs on contact, and he was surprised he didn't hear a sickening crack when he hit the wall. His staff was knocked free from his grip and landed on the ground several yards away from him. When he fell from where he had hit the wall, he landed on his hands and knees, desperately trying to get air circulating through himself again. His head lifted weakly and he saw one of the four monsters slowly coming towards him while the other two were unfreezing the fourth. Jack began crawling forward, trying to reach his staff, but with one step the monster stood between them. The winter spirit looked up at the tall creature that stood before him, and backed up slightly until his feet touched the wall behind him. The monster sucked in a breath, ready to freeze Jack on the spot, but the spirit bent in close to the wall as much as he could and then sprung himself forward. The icey ground made it easy for Jack to slide right past the icey spray and underneath the large creature as well. He grabbed a hold of his staff and instead of shooting another round of ice at the monster, he immediately jumped into the air and made for the sky.

He was so sure that he had done it, that he had gotten away. The two creatures helping the third out of its ice encasing were preoccupied and he thought the one pursuing him wouldn't be able to turn around fast enough to catch him. But he was wrong. The icey hand descended on him quickly, and he wasn't ready for it at all. His staff was knocked from his grip again upon impact with the hand, and instead of colliding with a wall or the ground, Jack was sent straight into one of the cracks on the center ground within the ring. He crashed into the pieces of ice sticking out of the walls, bouncing back and forth as he fell deeper and deeper. The air around him got colder and colder as he fell, and when he finally hit ground again he was about fifty feet under the ring. He groaned, reaching up to rest his hand on his throbbing head. His breaths came quickly and every one he took seemed to hurt, but he forced himself up, only to knock his head against one of the pieces of ice shooting out of the wall of the crevice. He ran his pale hand against the ice and then looked upwards, where he saw the monster looking down upon him through the crack at the surface.

"We do what we do for a reason, Jack Frost," the creature said. Jack immediately started trying to climb up the crevice, but the pieces of ice were too close together and he couldn't get a good grip on anything. Whenever he managed to get off the ground a little bit, he always slipped and fell back down.

"Let me out!" he screamed, clawing at the ice that caged him.

"You are evil, Jack Frost," the monster told him, "and dark. There is no place for you in this world."

"No!" Jack was near hysterical at this point.

"Sleep now, Jack Frost."

And without another word, the monster sent a shower of inescapable icey spray down into the crevice. Jack screamed again as he was consumed by the spray. The entire crack filled with ice, and Jack Frost was frozen among it all, trapped in time, unable to escape the very thing that made him who he was.

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**And there ya have it! I know, that was a lot of reading, huh? It was a lot of writing too! I'm not usually the best at fight sequences, but I hope I did well enough!**

**Please leave me some reviews letting me know what you guys think! Reviews make the world go 'round for an author like me! :) Thanks!**

**~ Tay**


	3. Confrontation

**Wow, guys! Thank you so so much for the awesome reviews! The reception this story has been getting has just blown me away! :D Thank you! Here's the next chapter! Hope you enjoy!**

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**3. Confrontation**

**.: 100 Years Later :.**

Ever since he had heard about the sealing away of Jack Frost by the Guardians, Pitch Black enjoyed taking time to travel down to Antarctica for the simple reason to see the legendary site where the spirit of winter remained frozen. Why? To slither down into the crevice where the boy was and drink in the horrified look that was forever locked on the spirit's face. His arms held up in a feeble attempt to protect himself, his eyes squeezed shut tightly with his eyebrows scrunched in both pain and fear, his mouth wide open in a silent scream. Pitch relished in it, and although he could do no harm to Jack Frost, he felt some sort of power returning to himself whenever he caught sight of that terrified expression.

It was exactly this that Pitch was doing on the one hundredth anniversary of Jack's imprisonment when the ground began to shake. Softly at first, but then the tremors grew in magnitude. The king of nightmares immediately slunk into the shadows, watching as the four monstrous protectors of the Ice Palace shifted into their true forms. Cracks began shooting out across the ice, most of them originating from the very crevice that contained Jack Frost. Blue rays of light erupted from the crevice and the cracks spawning from it, and the shaking of the ground grew even more powerful. A quiet scream began growing in volume, echoing around the ring. The wind picked up substantially and clouds began to form in the sky.

When the ground exploded, ice shot everywhere. Chunks, shards, and spray flew in all directions, and even the four large guardians were blown back. The scream continued on for a moment before fading into silence. Icey mist covered the area, but it cleared enough for the dazed guardians to see a shining light hovering about five hundred feet in the air. The unmistakable silhouette of a teenage boy could be seen within the glow, and after a moment the light faded away and revealed Jack Frost. Snow immediately began falling from the newly formed clouds in the sky, and the vicious wind blew his brown leathery cape around his shoulders and his snowy white hair around his ears and across his bitter eyes. For a moment, everything was still and silent as Jack and the guardians observed one another.

"Jack Frost," one of the monsters finally spoke.

"That's right," Jack spat back. It took a moment for the next monster to speak, for the tone of Jack's voice actually took them by surprise.

"You cannot be permitted t-"

"Do you think I care what you think I can and cannot do?" Jack cut it off. "Any of you? Because I couldn't care less. You all just sit down here at this place, in complete isolation, and have the audacity to think you have authority over me? An immortal spirit who was specifically created by the Man in the Moon?"

"You speak too highly of yourself when you do not even know why you were created," one of the creatures said.

"The Man in the Moon may have created you," said another.

"But he obviously made a mistake."

"And that is the conclusion the Guardians came to as well." This statement caused Jack's eyes to widen and a gasp to escape his chapped lips.

"The Guardians… the Guardians of Childhood?" he said softly, but he knew they could still hear him. "They're the ones who… who gave the order to lock me away?!" His surprise quickly turned to anger as each of the four Guardians crossed his mind. He had never thought ill of them before, but as of that moment he hated them. All of them.

A giant stony hand swung at him suddenly, and he dove out of its way. He was fueled by anger and hate and couldn't control it when the snow began falling in blankets. The strong winds pushed him around the ring as his eyes searched desperately for the one thing that hadn't been locked away with him. The one thing that meant the world to him, and offered him at least some sort of control over his powers.

He found it within a specially carved out area in the wall near the stage, hanging by the shepherd's crook on some sort of hook. Jack's eyes narrowed in determination, and he raced towards his staff as fast as he could. He was stopped when one of the protectors stepped in between.

"Get out of my way!" Jack shouted angrily, and suddenly a huge chunk of ice was ripped from the ground and sent rocketing towards the monster. It crashed into the monster's side, shattering on impact and pushing the guardian out of Jack's way. Some sort of invisible barrier protected Jack from any of the projecting shards, and without stopping to wonder what it was, the spirit darted forward to grab his staff from its spot in the wall. Immediately when he turned back around he had to rush out of the way of an oncoming spray of ice. Without a second thought, he blew a shower of the freezing spray out of the end of his staff and covered the entire creature in a thick layer of ice. His hysterically angry eyes turned down to the monster that had been knocked to the ground previously, and hurried to freeze the thing over as well.

"You cannot do this, Jack Frost!" one of the two remaining guardians yelled, throwing its hand out at the spirit. Jack dodged easily, flying up to become level with the creature's face.

"Watch me," he hissed, and then proceeded to freeze it solid.

The last guardian was not so easy, as it actually put up a fight. It sent Jack soaring around the ring and even dodged multiple of Jack's shots of ice. Jack was getting very impatient, but he wasn't about to give up. The snow was still falling at a tremendous rate, which evidenced just how furious he was.

After several minutes of shooting around the ring and exchanging bouts of ice spray, Jack finally managed to freeze one of the large creature's feet to the ground. He grinned triumphantly as the monster tried without success to pick its foot up off the ground. Within a minute, the entire rest of the creature was encased in ice except for its head. The spirit of winter flew up to become level with the guardian's face, making sure the thing could see his own unforgiving expression.

"You can't keep the spirit of winter cooped up here forever," Jack said in a hard, victorious voice.

"You are not in control of yourself, Jack Frost," the monster responded, its glowing red eyes never once looking away from Jack's pair of blue. "You are not safe for the world!"

"Shut up, won't you?!" Jack shouted. "You were wrong to lock me away. And I plan to let the Guardians know that as well."

"This is well past the Guardians now." Jack raised an eyebrow, almost daring the creature to continue. "You leave me no choice, Jack Frost." And without hesitation, the monster threw back its head, opened its mouth wide, and let a high-pitched shrieking noise rip into the heavens. Jack's first instinct was to cover his ears, but it only took a second for his eyes to widen and his stomach to clench in fear. He may not be an ancient spirit, but he knew what that sound was meant to do.

"No," he whispered, backing up slightly. Anger had nothing to do with his next outburst; he was completely consumed by fear. "NOOOOO!" he screamed, whipping his staff forward and blasting ice out of the end. The ice made contact with the creature's head and began creeping up and around it, cutting off the noise that was coming from its mouth and freezing it in place. Jack was then left with silence and four large blocks of ice.

His hands raked into his hair and gripped the sides of his head. His eyes remained wide with fear and anxiety. His legs bent up so that his knees touched his chest. He hung in the air in this position as the wind and snow whipped around him. "No… not them… they can't… I can't…" He had to get out of there. He had to get to the Guardians. He had to-

The Guardians. His anger returned at the mere thought of them. But he couldn't deny that they may be the only beings in existence that could help him. He groaned to himself, stretching out of his fetal position and soaring up out of the ring and into the sky. He took one last look down at the four frozen hunks of ice, and then turned and took off away from the palace. Jack may need their help, but that didn't get rid of the anger and hatred he felt towards the Guardians of Childhood. He was very bent on making sure they knew this.

Down in the ring a shadow crept out from under one of the frozen protectors and grew into a menacing man who watched with interest as the spirit of winter flew off into the sky. His head turned to the side slightly and a smile formed on his gray lips. He looked up at the monster before him and then back to the spot in the sky where he had last seen the boy. A chuckle escaped from his throat.

"Who knew Jack Frost could be so… _dark_," he murmured sinisterly. And with another chuckle, Pitch melted back into the shadows and disappeared.

* * *

"I can't believe it's already been one hundred years," Tooth said, her eyes on the wooden floor.

"'Ey, don't be mopin' around about it," Bunnymund responded as he twirled one of his boomerangs in his paw. "The world's been a better place without that kid flyin' around and spreadin' mischief."

"Yes, Mother Earth has done wonderful job keeping watch over winter," North added as he inspected a doll that had just been made by one of his yetis. "I was thinking blonde hair, yeah?" he murmured. The yeti glanced at the doll for a moment and then nodded while taking it back from his boss. North turned and strode back over to where the three other Guardians stood. He put his hands on the wooden railing that prevented anyone from falling over the ledge of each floor of the workshop and watched a toy airplane zoom up around the giant globe at the top. The merry spirit chuckled in glee.

The four Guardians had gathered at North's workshop for a routine checkup on how they all were doing and the status of the children throughout the world. The globe that projected the children that believed in the Guardians was still very alive with little pricks of glowing gold all around it.

With a wave of his hand, North and his fellow Guardians moved over to the makeshift elevator and rode it back up to the top floor where the globe was situated and all took seats in front of the large fireplace located there as well. North sipped some warm milk delivered to him by an elf and patted his large belly satisfactorily. Everything seemed peaceful as the sounds of toy creation reverberated around the walls.

This peace was shattered instantaneously when several of the skylights positioned above the globe burst inwards, showering the globe with glass. The Guardians were on their feet at once as loud, roaring winds blew a storm of snow and ice into the shop. Frost crept down across the walls and the globe as a slim figure flew in through the shattered windows. It touched down on top of the globe, and the winds stopped immediately. Snow continued to fall and twirl around the area, but it lightened up enough for the Guardians to get a look at the new arrival. And four pairs of eyes widened all at once.

"Jack Frost," North said in alarm. Jack said nothing as he stared down at the four immortals. Frost continued sprouting out from the spot where he stood, slowly beginning to cover the globe and causing the precious little lights to flicker.

"How in the…" Bunnymund muttered. He had both boomerangs in his paws, but refused to throw them just yet.

"I know it was you," Jack finally announced, his voice just as bitter as it had been at the Ice Palace. "I know you were the ones who ordered me to be locked away. How _dare_ you?!" The snow picked up again, but didn't affect their observation of one another. "You may be the Guardians of Childhood, but you have no authority over me!"

"You posed a threat to the children of the world!" Bunnymund yelled back at him, taking a step forward. "You _killed_ dozens of children and adults alike with that avalanche a hundred years ago! It was our job to respond!" Jack's eyes widened slightly. Until then, he hadn't known how long he had been trapped in ice. Time had been lost to him in his little prison. He shook his surprise away quickly.

"And imprisoning me for a century was the only option you could think of?" he asked.

"You weren't supposed to escape," the angered Pooka spat.

"Jack…" Tooth spoke up, hovering forward to lay a hand on Bunnymund's shoulder. "Something had to be done. We couldn't allow anything like that avalanche to happen again."

The Tooth Fairy's voice was soft, almost caring. The sound of it ebbed away some of Jack's frustration, and he looked down at the hummingbird-esque fairy with curiosity. The image of her he had had in his mind down in Antarctica had angered him, but the way she spoke to him gave him some sort of hopeful feeling.

"You could have helped me," he murmured just loud enough for them to hear. The snow had stopped completely, as had the frost growing over the globe.

"Helped you?" North repeated as a golden question mark appeared above Sandy's head.

"I want to… to be like you," Jack admitted. "I want control. I want to understand myself and my powers and my purpose. I didn't mean to… to kill those people." An involuntary shiver ran up his spine as the memory of that awful day resurfaced. "I just want to belong."

Everything was silent as his words sunk in. Several glances were shared between the four Guardians. Jack tipped his staff downwards so that the crook made contact with the globe and, with one tap, made the frost vanish. The lights shone brightly again. He stared down at the lights, a longing look in his eyes. All those kids who believed in the Guardians… but none of them believed in him. He sighed.

"Will you help me?" he asked, looking at the Guardians again. He kept his eyes specifically on Tooth, because of the way she had spoken to him earlier. She looked back into his eyes without fear or discomfort.

After a moment of silence, North spoke up. "Let us discuss." Bunnymund turned to look at him in disbelief, but the large man pretended not to notice. "We will go to my private work room." He then walked over to the elevator with the other three in tow. Jack watched as they disappeared into the floor, but then saw them walking towards a door a few floors down. He also saw that the railings on each floor were lined with yetis who had ceased their toy-making as soon as Jack had made his entrance. Jack looked at them all in wonder, but then turned his gaze away promptly.

North locked the door to his work room immediately once the four Guardians had all entered. He hadn't even turned to face them yet when Bunnymund spoke.

"No. No way. He's just tryin' to get our sympathy so we won't lock him up again."

"Bunny, how can you say that?" Tooth responded, her hands on her hips. "He's just a child!"

"A mischievous child who bloody killed people with a wave of his staff! Even you were furious when it happened a century ago!"

"I don't regret what we did, but I don't think it should be done again now that I've actually heard what he has to say." They both went quiet as they looked at each other, and Sandy turned his head back and forth, looking between the both of them.

"We vote then," North announced, stepping forward. "Bunny?"

"No," he said immediately.

"Yes," Tooth countered. Sandy held up a finger and nodded, moving over next to Tooth. North looked over them all.

"I am sorry, but my vote lies with Bunny," he finally said.

"So it's a tie," Bunnymund said. "That means he goes back in the ice."

"I think it means we should help him!" Tooth argued, rising an extra few inches into the air as her feathers ruffled. "You are just so stubborn-"

She was cut off as a bright white light suddenly appeared in front of the windows that lined the back wall behind North's desk. The four Guardians squinted against the brightness. After a moment, the light faded away and revealed a slender woman with soft, flawless brown skin and flowing black hair that reached half way down her back. A golden circlet of leaves and flowers rested behind her ears and wrapped around the back of her head. She wore a long dress of soft greens and purples and browns, with a golden sash at her waist, that fell down to the floor and a white cape that draped over her shoulders and fell to her knees. Her sparkling green eyes looked at the Guardians kindly.

"Mother Earth," North murmured.

"If you're needing a deciding vote," the woman said, her voice soft and silky, "then I vote yes."

* * *

**Yay, a new character! I don't consider her an OC since, obviously, I didn't create Mother Earth. But I'm excited to have her play a part in this story. :)**

**Jack/Tooth? Frostbite? Rainbow Snowcone? You can squint if you wish. ;) I don't intend to flush anything out between them, but out of the four Guardians I really think Tooth would be the one to sympathize with Jack.**

**And also yay, Pitch! Not much of him, but I promise that'll change.**

**Anyway, please review! You guys have been awesome with reviews, please don't stop now! I read every single one of them and I always feel so happy whenever I get a new one! Thank you so much guys!**

**~ Tay**

**P.S. - ALSO. I posted a poll on my profile asking "Who's your favorite Guardian?" I have a feeling I know who's gonna keep the lead, but I'm still curious! So take a second to go vote! :)**


	4. Teacher

**You guys are making me feel so loved with all these reviews! :D Thank you so much!**

**Also, I noticed a couple people talking about how Mother Earth is the daughter of Pitch in the books. I'm just gonna say right now that I haven't read the books yet ((I want to so badly!)) and I only have limited knowledge about them. So hardly anything, if anything at all, from the books will be incorporated into this story, which means that Mother Earth is not Pitch's daughter. Sorry to crush anyone's hopes. XD;; Hope you guys still enjoy this newest chapter!**

* * *

**4. Teacher**

Everything was silent for a moment while the four Guardians processed what their new arrival had said. Sandy eventually waved in greeting, to which Mother Earth smiled in reply, and Bunnymund then cleared his throat and spoke up.

"Mother Earth," he said, his voice much softer now than it had been when discussing Jack. "You know it's always a pleasure to have you visit, but this is official Guardian bizzo we're dealin' with here."

"From what I gather, you've reached a stalemate," Mother Earth responded. "Two votes in favor of helping Jack Frost, and two votes declining it. I figured you could use a decision maker."

"How did you know of problem?" North asked.

"I noticed a very distinct trail of snowstorms leading straight here. I decided to listen in through the broken windows, and it wasn't very hard to hear your arguing through these windows." She pointed over her shoulder with her thumb towards the wall lined with windows.

"And why do you want to help him?" Bunny jumped back in. "You've been doin' great with controllin' winter."

"Because just as Toothiana said, Jack Frost is merely a child. And judging by his escape, he's capable of very great things. Do you honestly think that if he didn't have a use or a plan for him, that the Man in the Moon would have created Jack in the first place? I was around far before Jack Frost, spreading and controlling winter for centuries, and yet MiM found it necessary to create Jack. Even the spirits who seem to be the most insignificant things in the world have a purpose. And I believe that Jack Frost has one as well."

"You see?" Tooth said, flittering over to Mother Earth and placing a hand on her shoulder. "She understands. Jack Frost is far more than useless to this world." North stroked his beard in thought as Bunny crossed his arms.

"But who would teach him right from wrong?" the large creator asked.

"I would, of course," Mother Earth answered. "Since I have some degree of control over winter, I understand the struggle he's going through, and I would be the best to show him how to understand and tame his powers."

"Hmmm," North murmured, nodding his head and continuing to stroke his beard. Bunny looked over at him.

"You're not reconsiderin' your vote, mate, are ya?" the Pooka asked in disbelief. Tooth scoffed.

"Even after everything Mother Earth has said, you still don't think Jack should be given a chance?" the fairy asked incredulously. "Just a _chance?!_ Just… for a moment, Bunny, switch places with Jack. You're young. You don't know much about the world you're living in. You, for some reason, have these incredible powers, but don't know where they came from or why you have them or how to properly use them. You want the answers so badly but after just one mistake, you get locked away for an entire century without any word from anyone."

"He killed people!" Bunnymund shouted.

"It was an accident, Bunny! An accident caused because no one went out of their way and cared enough to help him understand who he was! What if that was you? Lost in the world with nowhere to turn and no one to talk to…" Bunny stayed silent this time. He didn't have to imagine the feeling Tooth was describing. He was the last of his kind, after all. He didn't have to try very hard to remember the feeling of loneliness and confusion after the Pooka race had been wiped out.

After a moment, North spoke again. "I believe the boy deserves a chance. Mother Earth, you are sure you want to teach?"

With a nod, Mother Earth said, "I'm positive." Bunnymund crossed his arms again.

"Fine," he grumbled, trying to hide the tears in his eyes. "But if he makes a mistake like that avalanche again, I want him locked back away!" Tooth couldn't stop a smile from spreading across her lips. She turned and hugged Mother Earth.

"Oh thank you," she whispered, and then she pulled away. "Thank you so much." Mother Earth returned the smile.

"There's no need to thank me, Toothiana."

Without further discussion, North unlocked the door and the five spirits made their way back out into the workshop. Some of the yetis had gone back to building their toys, but many kept their places along the railings. All conversations being had in their yetish language ceased when the Guardians and their guest appeared again, and many pairs of eyes followed them as they made their way over to the elevator.

Jack was still sitting atop the globe when they reached the top floor, playing with some snowflakes. When he noticed their return, he got back to his feet. His dark eyebrows rose when he caught sight of the fifth addition to the group. She was an unfamiliar face to him, and he forced himself to hold his tongue until one of them spoke first.

It was North who did. "Jack, we would like you to meet Mother Earth. She, er… controlled the spreading of winter while you were… gone." Jack's eyes narrowed.

"Ah, so she replaced me," he said venomously, eyeing the woman standing next to Tooth. "What? Is she here to help you lock me away again so she can continue stealing my thunder?"

"Actually…"

"She's offered to help you learn how to control your powers," Tooth spoke up, cutting the large man off. One of Jack's eyebrows rose in skepticism as he observed the woman called Mother Earth. In his two hundred years before his imprisonment, he had heard the name a few times, whether from another spirit or from the humans. Why would she be interested in helping him? They had never met before, and she had helped the world get along while he remained frozen in Antarctica. The thought of learning from her almost repulsed the winter spirit.

"Jack, before you sprout any negative thoughts, the Guardians came to me after you had been locked away," Mother Earth told him. Her voice was a lot softer than Jack had been anticipating. "Even while you were roaming the Earth, I often cleaned up after you. While you were gone, I merely took up the position fulltime once again. I had no negative thoughts about you." She was met with silence as Jack looked down into her bright green eyes. He saw nothing pointing towards deception in them, and slowly he began lightening up towards her.

"You'll… help me?" he asked. She smiled at him.

"Yes. I believe you have great power hidden within you, Jack Frost. And I want to do whatever I can to help you find it and control it." A small smile formed on Jack's lips, and he suddenly jumped from the globe and landed on the plush red carpet in front of the group. Bunnymund's paw instinctively reached for one of his boomerangs, but Sandy touched his shoulder and stopped him. Bunny relaxed slightly. Jack smiled at Mother Earth, but after a short moment it slipped away and he looked to the floor.

"Oh, um… there's one other thing you should know," he said almost sheepishly. Whatever anger Bunny had been trying to suppress began bubbling back up again.

"What…?" he asked through his teeth. Jack glanced up through his eyelashes, and then back down to the floor.

"The Immortal Elite have been summoned," he murmured under his breath.

"What was that?" North asked. Jack groaned and lifted his head.

"The Immortal Elite have been summoned," he repeated in a louder voice. Tooth's breath caught in her throat and five pairs of eyes all widened in synchronization. There was silence in the workshop as Jack's words sunk in. After a moment of this, Bunny couldn't stop himself.

"_WHAT?!_" he exploded. Jack's head whipped to the side as the Pooka stepped towards him. "You… had… the Immortal Elite… summoned?!"

"Hey, it wasn't my fault!" Jack shot back, taking a step backwards. "It was those stupid guardian things at that place you imprisoned me!"

"Well ya had to have done somethin' to make 'em summon those ratbags!"

"Well yeah, escape! How dare I!"

"That's what I'm thinkin'! _How dare you!_" The two were practically touching noses when North grabbed Bunny's arms and pulled him back.

"Is okay," the large spirit said, though Jack could easily tell from the look in North's eyes that it was anything but okay. "Is okay. We will just have to explain situation and everything will be hunky dory."

"You know very well that that's not true," Bunny hissed at him.

"Perhaps if Jack can show them his control over his powers, they'll see no reason to pursue him," Mother Earth spoke up, walking forward to place a hand on Jack's shoulder. She pretended not to notice how cold her hand became at the very touch. "It usually takes them a few days to a week to arrive anyway."

"You really think you can turn this no-hoper around in a week?" Bunnymund asked, and Sandy lightly punched the Pooka's shoulder in response.

"If we begin immediately and Jack shows no resistance to my teaching" – Mother Earth shot a pointed look at Jack while saying this. Jack stayed silent – "then I believe we can make at least some progress."

"Then shoo with you!" North exclaimed, throwing his hands up. "We must avoid any conflict with them."

"Of course. North, may we use one of your snow globes?"

"Da, da." He reached inside his large suit and felt around for one of the spheres but couldn't find one. He turned in a circle and saw one resting atop the mantle. Tooth hovered up to Jack while North retrieved the snow globe.

"Jack, I'm sorry for what we did to you," she murmured, touching his shoulder. "We should have talked to you or… something."

"Yeah… you should have." He didn't mean for it to come out as bitterly as it did, but once it was said he couldn't take it back, and Tooth withdrew her hand instantly. North approached them and handed Mother Earth the globe as Tooth slowly backed away.

"Good luck to you," he said quietly, and she responded with a smile. As North stepped away, she murmured something to the snow globe and then tossed it a few feet in front of herself. The sphere exploded against the ground and an image of rolling hills covered in beautiful snow appeared in the air before transforming into a swirling mass of color. Mother Earth looked at Jack expectantly, and after one glance at the Guardians he stepped into the portal. His new teacher also gave the Guardians one last look, and a determined nod, before following the eternal teen.

* * *

**_Australian slang terms:_**

**_Ratbag - mild insult_**

**_No-hoper - somebody who will never do well_**

**I'm not usually a fan of purely conversational chapters, but sometimes they're just necessary. Hey, learning stuff is fun, right? The "them" from the previous chapter have a name now!**

**Reviews are precious to me, so please don't forget to leave one! Thank you guys so much for the amount this story has been getting so far!**

**~ Tay**


	5. Music

**Thanks to those of you who reviewed the last chapter. I know it wasn't much of a chapter, but thank you nonetheless! Here's the next one!**

* * *

**5. Music**

Upon exiting the portal, Jack noticed that the hills he had seen briefly projected back at the Workshop were actually mountains. The sun was still high in the sky but was beginning to make its decent towards the horizon, it's rays causing the voluptuous snow to sparkle beautifully. Jack was in awe at the sight and almost didn't notice when Mother Earth walked up beside him. They were in the middle of a relatively flat expanse, and the snow reached halfway up to their knees. Jack closed his eyes and welcomed the chilly breeze.

"Where are we?" he asked quietly, turning and falling onto his back in the snow.

"The Snowy Mountain range in Australia," Mother Earth responded, walking past Jack as he began making a snow angel.

"Ah, The Snowies," Jack said, turning onto his stomach and watching his teacher as she magically formed a chair out of snow, froze it into solid ice, and took a seat upon it. He raised an eyebrow at her, but then turned onto his back again and stared up at the clear blue sky. "So what're we gonna do first? Attack maneuvers, defensive moves…?"

Mother Earth didn't reply right away, letting a few beats of silence pass between them as Jack's question hung in the air. After a moment, she asked, "Jack, what are your thoughts about music?" This caught Jack completely off guard, and he sat up and turned to face her again to see that her expression was entirely serious.

The winter spirit chuckled lightly as he responded warily, "What?"

"Surely you're aware of how powerful music can be."

"Uh… well, I don't really have a strong opinion about it. I mean, I've listened in to some while visiting certain places and it's nice, I guess, but… why are we discussing this?"

"Because it's important that you understand the necessity of the various musical patterns that are weaved into the magical realm. Before anything else, you must come to terms with your inner music." Jack stared at her, one of his eyebrows raised and his mouth slightly agape.

"I… don't understand," he said. "You said you were going to help me understand my _powers_ and my _purpose_, not… music."

"They all coincide with each other," Mother Earth told him. She closed her eyes as a small breeze blew her hair around her face. "I want you to listen, Jack. Learn to listen with your mind, not your ears." Jack continued staring at her, and then got to his feet and awkwardly shut his eyes. After a minute of listening to the wind as it twirled around them, he peeked open one eye to see that Mother Earth was now smiling in serenity, her own eyes still closed. Annoyance began to creep up on Jack quickly. They were wasting precious time just sitting around and listening for… for what? Jack didn't understand at all what Mother Earth was trying to get across to him, and now was not the time for her to be cryptic to him. Not with the Immortal Elite hanging over his head.

With both eyes open, Jack cleared his throat after another moment of silence. Mother Earth opened her eyes and looked at him. "I really think we should focus more on the other aspects of our lessons. The Immortal Elite won't be interested in my… 'inner music'." He made invisible quotes in the air with the hand that wasn't holding his staff. "There's no music here anyway. You were the one who brought us here, you should know that we're not necessarily close to any civilization."

"There's music all around you, Jack Frost," Mother Earth told him calmly. "You just have to _listen for it._"

Jack's eyebrows knit together in frustration. "You're not making any sense, and you're not sticking to your word. I want to know how to use my powers, not to listen for some music that obviously isn't there."

"It's only not there for you because you're refusing to listen."

"No, I listened, and all I heard was the wind. You know, the thing that actually exists?"

"Jack, please, refrain from having a temper."

"Refrain from…" Jack pressed his lips together and his grip on his staff tightened. Out of nowhere, clouds began forming above their heads and a soft snow drifted down around them. "You're just sitting here talking about some imaginary music when you're _supposed_ to be teaching me about my powers and you think you can just tell me not to get angry with you?"

Mother Earth sighed as she looked up at the clouds. "This is what will continue to happen until you learn to swallow your pride. You can't understand your powers until you understand yourself."

The snow picked up almost instantly. "You… you… how dare you! We don't have time for this!"

"Jack, I am trying to help you," Mother Earth said loudly, trying to be heard over the winds blowing around them. She was on her feet by now, moving towards Jack. The winter spirit backed away from her, his blue eyes wide and enraged.

"Stay away from me!" he yelled at her. "I don't… I don't _need_ your help if all you're going to talk about is useless music!"

"You don't understand-"

"Shut up!" He slammed the butt of his staff down against the ground, and there was suddenly a loud cracking noise. Mother Earth's eyes widened at the sound, and she took a small step backwards.

"Jack, please, calm down!" she shouted.

"Why should I?" The cracking noise continued, and a blue light sprouted up out of the snow in a thin line from his staff and up the side of the mountain behind where Jack was standing. "I'm not listening for your precious music, and I'm not listening to you! Just… leave me _alone!_" With another slam of his staff, the loudest crack yet reverberated around the mountains, and Jack suddenly froze where he stood. The blue light reached the top of the mountain and the ground began to rumble slightly. Jack turned around just as a large chunk of packed ice and snow broke away from the top of the mountain and began sliding down towards him and Mother Earth. Without even having time to properly react, Mother Earth was beside him and wrapping her arm and white cape around his shoulders quickly. Suddenly they were surrounded by a white light and shooting up into the air, out of the path of the oncoming avalanche. They moved through the air much more swiftly than Jack could fly on his own, and the next thing he knew he was falling onto his hands and knees on a dry patch of dirt. He breathed deeply as he turned his head side to side, searching for his staff. It lay on the ground a few feet from him, and as he moved to grab it he noticed Mother Earth standing a few yards away, watching him. He stared back at her for a moment, and then sighed.

"I did that, didn't I?" he asked quietly. Mother Earth didn't move as she replied.

"Yes. Jack, I'm not trying to waste your time. Everything I say, I say for a reason. Even if it sounds confusing at first, I promise it has meaning."

"But music is not relevant to my current situation," Jack replied, using his staff to get back to his feet. He brushed some dirt off of his knees and his brown cape. Mother Earth opened her mouth to respond, but closed it again while shaking her head.

"I wasn't expecting you to understand straight away," she murmured in a way that suggested she was more talking to herself than to him. She then began walking towards him. "Why don't we go into town?" Jack looked at her in confusion.

"Into town?" he repeated. She held up her arm in the direction Jack wasn't facing, and when he turned he noticed that they were standing just on the outskirts of a town… but it looked nothing like anything Jack had ever seen before.

Upon entering the town, Jack was greeted with very strange sights. The buildings and houses all had foreign designs and architecture to him. People drove advanced automobiles that were painted in crazy colors. The clothes he saw people wearing, especially younger people, seemed so strange and untidy. He saw hardly any dresses or neat suits with ties anywhere. He began to feel slightly self-conscious of his clothes, because no one was wearing any capes or long cloaks either. Passing conversations were filled with words and phrases that he didn't understand. How much things had changed in the hundred years he had been imprisoned in ice…

Mother Earth told him to stay close to her as they walked along the sidewalks, but Jack got distracted easily. The sidewalks weren't very crowded, but they didn't have to worry about people seeing them. Jack was still invisible to everyone, and Mother Earth also was to the vast majority.

After a short walk, the two spirits entered a park. In the center was a lovely gazebo, and on the inside was a small, local orchestra performing a quiet concert to those sitting around. Jack rolled his eyes as Mother Earth took a seat on a bench near the gazebo.

"So you weren't satisfied with the fact that I couldn't hear your imaginary music, so you brought me here to listen to real music?" he asked bitterly. On the side of the bench that was empty, Jack noticed a cobalt blue piece of clothing that he recognized someone call a sweatshirt. He leaned his staff up against the bench and picked the sweatshirt up.

"I just thought listening to some modern music might help you more understand your own," Mother Earth responded, eyeing the sweatshirt confusedly. Jack groaned at her and rolled his eyes again. He unbuttoned the cape around his shoulders and pulled the sweatshirt over his head. Surprisingly, it fit him almost perfectly. It felt a little odd to him, but it helped him feel a little more secure about how he looked. If he was going to get any believers, he wanted to be able to identify with them. He didn't want to wear any modern pants, because he noticed that they all seemed to wear pretty low on the waist and that didn't look comfortable to him at all.

"Are you ever going to teach me something actually relevant?" he asked, sitting down beside Mother Earth with his cape and staff by his side. Mother Earth sighed.

"Why don't you tell me what you can consciously do already?" she said to him.

"I can… make it snow," Jack began awkwardly. "I can use the wind to fly. I can shoot blasts of ice out of my staff. Uh…" Mother Earth glanced at his sweatshirt again.

"Frost. Do you control the spreading of frost?"

"Well, yes and no. Sometimes it just starts spreading, like when I hold my staff." He held the staff in his hand to demonstrate, and frost immediately began covering the wood only in the general area where his hand touched. "But I can also spread it myself." He held up his hand and Mother Earth watched as some frost actually crackled in the air above his palm before disappearing again.

"It appears that your body wants your new article of clothing to have a healthy dose of frost on it," she told him with a small smile. Jack looked down to see tiny branches of frost wrapping around the ends of the long sleeves and inching up the arms. He could barely see them himself but there were also some growing down from the collar and across his chest. He flashed a toothy grin.

"I think it adds to it," he said inside a chuckle. "It makes it more… me."

"Now Jack, all of those things are good, but I believe there is much more you're capable of."

"Yeah, you've said that."

"But you must understand yourself befo-"

"Ugh, not this again," Jack groaned, leaning his head against the back of the bench. "Look, the only music I'm hearing is from them." He pointed towards the small orchestra.

"I know, but if you would only listen-"

"I did listen! Back in the mountains, I listened. I heard nothing, because there was nothing!"

"Just because you couldn't hear it doesn't mean it wasn't there." Jack looked at her as if she were crazy. Nothing she was saying was making any sense to him, and her constant talk about this imaginary music of hers was beginning to get on his nerves again. This time, they both noticed when the clouds began to form.

"Why don't I just get out of here before I cause another disaster," he muttered, standing up with his staff in one hand and his cape in the other.

"Jack-"

"I want to leave, Mother Earth," he said more forcibly. "I want to get away from that damn music. I just… want to get out of here." Without another word from either of them, Jack took to the air and let the wind carry him up above the strange buildings and people, his new sweatshirt rippling around his upper body as he flew.

He didn't notice the black, shadowy entity following close behind him.

* * *

**So my headcanon regarding Jack's sweatshirt is that he found it abandoned in a park somewhere, since I don't necessarily think he'd be able to waltz into a store and grab one. And since he can interact with the physical world, disregarding humans, he would easily be able to snatch up an abandoned hoodie.**

**Pitch is back next chapter! Can't wait to write him again! He's so much fun to write.**

**Please review! Last chapter was a bit of a dud, but I hope that changed with this chapter! They really do give me inspiration to keep writing, guys! So please take just a second to leave one for me! :)**

**~ Tay**


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